Thursday, May 30, 2013

This
week I am sending several articles by my friend of many years, W. F.
Bell. he is a gifted writer and preacher, and a dear friend. I pray that
you will benefit from his work, as I always do. I am sure if you will
read them you will be blessed. (Charles Woodruff)

Evangelism: Christ's Imperative Command

W.F. BELL

Evangelism is central
in both Scripture and church history. Evangelism is simply thepreaching of the gospel, or the earnest
efforts of the church to spread the gospel. The word"evangelism" does not occur in the
New Testament, but the word "evangelist" is found (Acts21:8; Eph. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:5), and comes from
two Greek words, eu, meaning well or good,and angelos, meaning messenger. The
word "gospel" comes from the Greek wordeuangelion, meaning simply "good
tidings." The one proclaiming these good tidings is the “evangelist,"
the messenger carrying the announcement. Evangelists were the traveling
missionaries in the early church, for the early church took evangelism
seriously. See Acts 8:25 & 35.

Our great
Commander-in-Chief has given his marching orders to the church in Matthew 28:19-20.
These commands constitute the Magna Charta of evangelism. The central verb
ofthis passage is formed on the noun
for "disciple" (mathetes) and should be translated"making disciples" (matheteuo).
The other verbs are participles: going, baptizing, teaching.All of these verbs are very important, but
the imperative (first aorist) "make disciples of all the nations" is
of greatest importance. The Lord Jesus Christ himself is our gospel, and
he is the one who sends his church into the world to make disciples unto him.

Personal witnessing
is central in the labors of any New Testament church, as missionary endeavor is
the very heart of Christ's commands. Missions is a good Latin word meaning tosend, and gospel missions is the sending of evangelists and missionaries
to carry the gospel to all the world. Is it not right then to ask ourselves:
How much do we care, share and dare for Christ and the souls of men? True
evangelism is carried on by burning hearts that are filled with

love for Christ and
compassion for sinners. Christ Jesus alone saves men (and this is never
to be minimized), but it is every Christian's responsibility to witness
of Him who is "mighty to save"

Dare we profess to
strongly believe the Bible if we fail to obey our Lord in this
all-important

area of evangelism?
Let us all preach Christ with our lives and lips! "Therefore they
that

were scattered abroad
went everywhere preaching the word" (Acts 8:4).

“Books may preach when the author cannot, when
the author may not, when the author

dares not, and which
is more, when the author is not.”

— Thomas Brooks

"Oh that I could
do more for Him! Oh that I was a flame of pure and holy fire, and had a

thousand lives to
spend in the dear Redeemer's service....The sight of so many perishing

souls every day
affects me much, and makes me long to go if possible from pole to pole, to

proclaim redeeming
love."

— George Whitefield

TRUTH UNPOPULAR-W.F. BELL

A Commentary on the Times (But not aired
on CNN)

"Any pastor desiring to carry the torch of truth
today need not expect to have many friends." So wrote Chuck Baldwin
in a recent article for The Covenant News. Baldwin also said,
"It has never been harder to continue to carry the torch of truth
than it is today," and "Truth has been replaced with
entertainment." Well said, absolutely true.
(Note, these very words are not popular.)

It's hard to write
truth today. (Try it sometime.) It's even harder to live
truth. Friends and family leave us one by one when we stand firm for
truth. Congregations dwindle. Readers move on to something more
soothing and comforting. We're called "unloving." In a
word, truth is very unpopular.

Let's get
specific. The truth about God makes us unpopular, for few really
seem to care for biblical theology. "Theology" is even a word
that turns people off today. What about the glory of
Christ? Another unpopular subject. What about personal holiness,
or proving that we are justified by sanctified living? (Bad
question.) Shouldn't we just be mostly concerned with church growth,
accommodating our message to the masses, being friendly,
being emergent-minded, being entertaining, concerned with the overall
numbers -- isn't this what matters? No, not really. (And no apologies.)

Anyone ever read the
Bible? (Bad question.) Well, though unpopular, here it is:
"Buy the truth, and sell it not" (Proverbs 23:23). We
"buy" truth by believing it, living it, honoring it. And
we must never "sell" it, no matter how tempted we are to do
so. Proverbs 23 contains particular instructions for children to know
how to "be wise" in life, by "listening" to fathers and
mothers who "guide" them "in the way" (verses
19-22). Don't Christians in general need this also? Truth is
built on the solid foundation of God Himself, and His infallible Word.
The modern church needs to get back to this solid ground, for apart from
the truth of Christ, "all other ground is sinking
sand." And there goes my popularity. But no
matter, "a remnant" shall hear! Selah.

NOTE: Here is a great
quote from John Wycliffe. But we must do more than just say
"Amen" to this! Let us examine our hearts, our lives, our
beliefs, and our church traditions thoroughly, seeking to "prove all
things" by Scripture alone. wfbPROVE
ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF GOD

“The true Christian was intended by Christ to
prove all things by the Word of God: all churches, all ministers, all teaching,
all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all
practices. These are his marching orders. Prove all by the Word of
God; measure all by the measure of the Bible; compare all with the standard of
the Bible; weigh all in the balances of the Bible; examine all by the light of
the Bible; test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which cannot abide
the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away. This is
the flag which he nailed to the mast. May it never be lowered!"John Wycliffe (1328-1384)

What a word is
this! If we truly followed the above counsel, would it not
deliver us from false doctrine, error, and the traditions of
men? "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
"Hold fast the form of sound words." I Thessalonians 5:21; 2
Timothy 1:13. wfb

2 comments:

Thank you Trent. There are many articles by W.F. Bell that are so good and edifying. From time to time I publish his work. He is a dear friend; has been for over 40 years. Visit all through the site and see what else you find. Thanks again, and God bless you!

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